Saturday, March 8, 2014

John Fund gets Texas right

But down the ballot, at the level of state races, Primary Day was another story. “The state-level results show the tea party is alive and well in the state of Texas,” Rice University political-science professor Mark P. Jones, told the Dallas Morning News.

Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst, who lost to Ted Cruz in the 2012 GOP primary, was forced into a humiliating second-place showing in his reelection race, getting only 28 percent of the vote. He will face off against state senator Dan Patrick, a tea-party favorite, in a May runoff.

State representative Dan Branch, the GOP establishment’s choice for attorney general, also came in second with 33 percent of the vote. He will now go up against Ken Paxton, the Tea Party’s brew of choice, who won 44 percent.

In state legislative races, moderate state-house speaker Joe Straus may have won his primary challenge against a tea-party candidate, but his allies fared poorly. As the Dallas Morning News reported, “the four targeted tea party conservatives [in the state house] flicked away challengers backed by pro-public schools and business groups.” At least eight house incumbents lost their seats, four of them to explicitly tea-party challengers.

In the state senate, tea-party incumbent Donna Campbell from San Antonio easily defeated establishment challengers, with 55 percent of the vote. Tea-party groups celebrated the defeat of moderate GOP senator John Carona to libertarian businessman Don Huffines. Another GOP senate incumbent, Bob Deuell, was forced into a runoff he may well lose. The Tea Party clearly faltered against only one of their three establishment targets, with former Midland mayor Mike Canon winning 48 percent of the vote against incumbent Kel Seliger.

Our only minor quibble is that Donna is from New Braunfels, not San Antonio (and the San Antonio establishment were the ones trying to take her out); but otherwise kudos John Fund!!!